Just a couple of weeks ago on one of the blogs i mentioned of late i have not had any money to put back into miniatures. Even after doing well at Kensington everything i earned went into fixing the boiler, having plumbers in to unblock pipes, clothes for children, food, bills and everything eles that seems to have its hand out on a daily basis.
I'm always resourceful and always find a way to make minis even when i have no budget to spend. I knows it's bad business sense but feeding kids and clothing them always comes first.
One of the ladies Ira at Merry Jingle Crafts read my comment and without even letting me know sent a parcel of polymer clay, beads, some tiny plant pots, a skeleton and a beautiful bookmark with a blue sapphire on the Angel. Saphires are the Birthstone for September!
I always love parcels, not just for the content but mainly for the good intentions from the person that sends them. I'm a bit of a sentimental person!
Make sure you check out Ira's blog, she makes fab wands and her Poe house is wonderful!
Of late i've struggle to find enough time to comment on blogs and have only commented here and there in the past on Ira's, so it really came as a surprise!
The polymer clay Ira sent are various colours but she also sent some cernit clay i've not tried before. The colours are beautifully subtle and not as bright a fimo and love them. Plus its not as squidgy as fimo is at the moment in the heat of today.
Not only that but i also won some Mini Mail from Katie at Katies Clay Corner
I love Katies blog. Recently she has been busy making jugs, but if you go back to older posts you can see her star wars toy shop, and also the tree house she is building from Foam. She's ever so clever and inventive and can't wait to see them
complete.
Thank you Ira and Katie!
Today i'm trying my best to sculpt some sleeping pumpkins. It's so hot and humid here today the clay seems to be acting like butter. Putting the clay in the fridge and freezer doesn't help because in seconds it's warm again, nor does icy cold hands help. So i think i'll give up on these for a day or so hoping the weather cools a little.
I have a batch of mandrakes waiting for faces too, lol. Poor things will have to wait too. Roll on icy cold winter days i say!
What wonderful gifts nikki :0)
ReplyDeletePeople can be so lovely and thoughtful.
Today I've only came across the opposite type and it was really nice to read your post, restored my faith LOL !
Hope it cools down soon,its hard sculpting in the heat isnt it !
julie xxx
I won the same mini-mail from Katie too! the photos really dont do them justice do they? her foam tree house is very special.... peeps should really go see her blog for a look :o) & Ira is such a sweetheart isnt she?! she sent me unexpected thankyou pressies when she won my blog give-away!! but this is the wonderful side of blogland, meeting such genuinely lovely people :o) I look forward to seeing lots of differently coloured clever Nikki things now....no pressure LOL
ReplyDeleteThis heat is a killer trying to work with clay! I have been trying to sculpt some commissioned dolls today and so far the heat is winning :o( I may have to start doing my clay things in the middle of the night when its a bit cooler !!!
x
What truly wonderful pressies! I'm constantly blown away but true kindness and generosity shown in blogland. I received some magnificent mini's from Kate W today! WOW doesn't sum them up! lol :o))
ReplyDeleteI hate the heat, especially in the office...just about okay at home! I can imagine how difficult it is to work with clay in this heat.
Michelle xxxx
Beautiful treasures! Ira is one of the most generous people I know.:)Katies letters are fab!
ReplyDeleteIt's a nice group of people out here in blogland, isn't it? Ira is one of the best :) I think there are many people who follow you, Nikki, who admire your work and would like to help in any small way to make sure you can keep practising your art, whether we know you well or not.
ReplyDeleteI love your sleepy pumpkins -- they're making me feel a bit dozy right now!
Niki, I have some FIMO I am trying to GIVE away. I'd be more than happy to send you some if you will email me your address. Heck, tell me some colors you do or do not need. It's a little old, but I was able to condition an OPEN packet the other day with just a little extra hand usage (plus I have "hot hands").
ReplyDeleteSmiles~
Marilyn
mcgoo4@gmail.com
Such fun to get gifts in the mail - and unexpected ones are even better!! Ira is a wonderful lady, and she has the knack of knowing the perfect gift to give!
ReplyDeleteKatie's little mail is fab!
Can I please swap some of your heat for some of our cold weather?? It's too cold and damp for the glue to set - I have my little minis sitting under an old big angle-poise desk lamp to warm up, like a batch of chicks in an incubator. :)
Good that the package arrived safe and sound :) And hope that you have lots of fun with those colours, I like also the more subtle colours that are available from Cernit :)
ReplyDeleteAnd with the little skeleton, he's one member of the Skellington family but has kindly donated his skeleton to be taken apart if necessary, what wouldn't a little bony guy do for the sake of art :D
I love Katie's tiny mail :)
Hope you have a wonderful rest of the week :)
Ira
Glad to know the mini mail got there! Hope you like the sticker I put on the front, too....I bought it a while back with you in mind:)Made me think of your old profile pic:)
ReplyDeleteHow awesome is that to get clay in the mail! I just love Fimo Soft! And it's miserable here, too. In the upper 90s and so humid it feels like 110! The kids don't even want to go outside, lol.
OK...And I love, Love the new pumpkins! Sleeping pumpkins.....so cute!
Katie
Ahh so lovely , well deserved gifts Nikki, good you get spoilt! have fun making things, will be great to see what creations you come up with next using your new clay! Kate xx
ReplyDeleteHi Katie. Im daft! I arranged the envelope and mail so the sticker would be seen too. I did several pics to get the best one and stupid me even thought the sticker was meant to be in its out, lol. I'll pop back in the morning and add the witch sticker.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the mini mail. Love the way you have made the brown envelope padded and crumpled so it really looks like it's been posted.
Nikki xxx
Julie. Always have faith. I find there are far more nice people around than horrid.
ReplyDeleteWendie. You alway make me laugh! Just use the excuse it's too hot for clay to work, lol. Excuses are great!
Michelle, will look forward to your gifts. Im also gald you are a non summer lover like me.
Hey Nikki....aren't miniaturists the bet people??!!
ReplyDeleteBTW...I have a really great method for conditioning old Fimo. Just keep it in the package and whack it on all sides with a rubber mallet. I did this on the concrete in the garage with my old crumbly stuff and it worked great. Saw this technique on a website. Afterwards it takes no more than the normal amount of conditioning and it is perfect! SO consider taking that old Fimo cause it is a lot betther than the new stuff.
Love those sleepy punkins...
Geesh....I need to proof read before I hit "send". I meant to say:
ReplyDeleteAren't miniaturists the "best" people!
Hi Dangerous Mezzo. Glad you like the sleeping pumpkins idea. The first little one i love. Hope they all turn out just as nice as him.
ReplyDeleteHi Marilyn. Thank you for thinking of me. It will take me forever and a day to use the clay from Ira. I tend not to use large amounts.
I was running out of all the coloured clays and mostly just had orange left. I still have the whites and translucent from when i tried to make food (can't make food for the life of me).
The clay i loved was the translucent 00 which they stopped. If you have that its like gold dust.
Thank you for thinking of me, but it would be greedy for me to accept. If there is anyone else in need would be lovley if it could go to them.
Nikki xxx
Glenda, i would gladly swap for your weather. I love autumn and winter and wrapping up warm. Summers a right bummer in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteNikki xxx
Hi Ira. Oh poor skelly being chopped up.
ReplyDeleteI have a plan for him. My witch house has had a move into the loft earlier this year. Will bring it back down soon and find time to work on it. Will bury him in the garden so bits of him are poking out, lol.
Thank you again for the clay. I can make more pumkins and mandrakes now.
Nikki.
Hi Kate. Will get my thinking cap on, lol.
ReplyDeleteSusan. I wouldn't worry about typos with me, lol.
Sometimes i go back and read and can't believe the mistakes i make.
Nikkixxx
What treasures :-)
ReplyDeleteI have clay problems with the he living here but I know it can be conquered...Jodi lives even more in the desert than me and she manages.
That is quite a batch of goodies your blog buds sent to you Nikki! I'm glad you tend to run into more nice people than horrid.
ReplyDeleteHot and humid here as well :( . You don't notice it when your on the beach but when you hit home ... yech!
What a lucky girl! And a creative one- love the pumpkins, even if they're a bit droopy!
ReplyDelete